Loonakids: Game On!
by MileyLoonaticsFan96
Summary: When a new bad guy comes along attempting to take over the minds of all the children in the world, the team must stop the chaos before it can start. Sequel to "Search for Spock-NOT!"
1. Chapter 1

Loonakids: Game On!

Yay, I got this up fast! Well, that should be normal for a while. Anyway, thanks for reading, keep reading, review, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and this one may seem a bit like Spy Kids 3...yeah. Well, wish me luck and let the fun begin!

Chapter 1

Four teenage coyotes were in a nursery with three baby coyotes.

The younger girl was with the youngest baby girl. "Sarah."

"Sammie."

Sarah glared at her. "_Sarah_."

"Sadie."

Sarah put a hand on her hip. "I'm starting to think you don't like me, Poll."

Polly just clapped her hands.

The two boys were with the baby boy.

The older one looked at his little brother. "Ryan."

"Why-in."

Ryan gave him a look. "Good enough." He handed the kid over to his other brother. "You take over now."

"Fine. TJ, can you say my name?"

"My name."

The middle coyote brother stopped smiling. "Smart aleck already. No, _Michael_."

"My-Krawl."

Michael looked at Ryan. "What's a Krawl?"

"A Spectrobes bad guy."

Sarah picked up her baby sister and walked over to her brothers. "I tried the italics thing. It don't work."

Meanwhile, the eldest coyote, a girl, was with the eldest baby. "Kelly."

"Kiwi."

"Kelly!"

"Kiwi!"

"Gabby."

"Me."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Kelly picked up Gabby and walked out of the room with her to the living room. She sat down on the couch next to an older coyote woman. "Make her say your name."

The coyote woman looked at her and took Gabby. "Gabby, can you say Mommy?"

"Mommy."

"No, your real name," said Kelly.

"Sophie?"

"Sophie," Gabby echoed.

"Now let me try," Kelly said, "Ryan."

"Ryan."

"Sarah."

"Sarah."

"Michael."

"Michael."

"TJ."

"TJ."

"Polly."

"Polly."

"Kelly."

"Kiwi!"

Kelly gave her mom a look.

Sophie looked at her in return. "Apparently, she likes you. She's given _you_ a nickname."

Kelly groaned and took Gabby back.

_BOOM!_

Kelly smiled. "Believe it or not, I missed those explosions."

An older coyote man walked into the room, clearly recovering from that. "No one go in the lab."

Sophie smiled. "Believe it or not, I missed those grumblings."

Kelly giggled.

Sophie turned to look at him. "Tech, I love you, I've missed you—please don't kill yourself again!"

Tech glared at her. "First of all, I'm fine! Thanks for asking! Got regeneration, didn't matter that I got electrocuted!"

Ryan walked in with TJ. "What do you know. Twice in two weeks."

Sarah smiled, following with Polly. "It's just plain nice to have him back. I'll take what I can get."

"What does that mean?" asked Michael, "_You_ wanna get electrocuted?"

"No! It's just nice to have a simple electrocution we know will do nothing in place of the gigantic explosion we know could kill him."

"Kill _him_? Ha!" a duck about Tech's age scoffed.

Tech glared at him. "Duck, I know I've survived a lot—"

"Try 'everything,'" pointed out a cream-furred bunny woman.

"Lexi's got a point, Tech," said Sophie, "In fact, this last time, you had us all worried like crazy for two months! And Kelly and I—"

"Kiwi!" Gabby giggled.

Kelly glared at her baby sister. "You're just not gonna stop, are you?"

"What's up with that again?" asked a teenage road runner.

"Robert, she's been calling me as the same fruit all week. For the past two weeks. Here we are teaching everyone the names and everything and I'm the only one that gets screwed up!"

"That's ridiculous! Here, let me try!" Robert walked up to them. "Gabby, say Robert."

"Robert."

"Jack."

"Jack."

"Benny."

"Benny."

"Nadine."

"Nadine."

"Lucy."

"Lucy."

"Kelly."

"Kiwi!"

Robert blinked. "Huh. How 'bout that."

A younger duck came up. "Hey, I thought Austin was the only one allowed to give you nicknames." He started laughing.

Kelly snapped her fingers and the duck boy turned into a tiny Mini Rex bunny.

"AAHH! Switch me back! Switch me back!"

A beagle walked into the room and saw the Rex bunny there. "Alright! I got a playmate!" (Yeah, he talks.) "Or should I say lunch-mate?"

"You're not saying anything! It's me, Jack!"

"Ooh! Duck! Even better!"

"KELLY!"

Kelly smiled and snapped her fingers again, Jack turning back to normal. "I love being a Witch."

Another cream-furred female bunny walked up to him. "Archer, how many times do we have to tell you not to eat other animals…unless they're already cooked?"

"As many times as I've tried to eat Jack and Duck?" the talking beagle answered.

She put a hand on a hip and glared at him.

"Alright! But I'm not happy about it."

She looked at the others and sat down next to Kelly and Gabby and Sophie. "I'm really starting to hate him. I'm thinking of making beagle soup."

Archer looked at her, startled.

Kelly looked at her best friend. "Nadine…I'm surprised he's not eating _you_ right now in that dress."

Nadine looked at her outfit. The headband was made of walnuts, the bracelets were made of gummy bears, the belt was made of fruit snacks, and the dress itself was an ice cream cone pattern fabric with real cherries on the hem and neckline and sleeves. "So I'm getting a little creative."

"'A little'? Next I'm gonna be seeing you wear a pancake hat!"

Nadine looked at her. Finally, she caught herself and forced out a fake laugh and a scoff. "Yeah, right!" She got up to leave the room and go to her own room.

"Got breakfast for tomorrow?"

"Maybe."

"Tell me you didn't make a matching bacon scarf!"

Nadine walked back into the room to glare at her.

"And a scrambled egg necklace?"

"I hate you." With that, she left again.

"Well, there goes my cooking plan," Sarah sighed, handing Polly to Sophie.

Suddenly, something started beeping.

"What's that?" asked a tan-furred bunny girl.

"It's OK, Lucy, it's just Zadavia," said a silver-and-white-furred bunny boy, hitting a button on his watch. As he hit the button, an image appeared on the TV of a blonde lady with white eyes in a rainbow aura. "What's the deal?" He saw his big sister come back into the room. "You know, besides Nadine's new dressing style."

Nadine glared at him. "I hate you, too, Benny."

"I'm afraid this is more than a fashion emergency, but an actual crisis," said Zadavia.

Nadine pulled out a compact mirror and started messing with her headband.

"It appears that a strange new development in the technological audio-visual entertainment—Nadine!"

Nadine came to attention. "Sorry! My hair keeps getting caught in the walnuts." She fiddled with her headband a little more and glanced at the image in her mirror. Nothing behind her.

"So what's the problem?"

"AAHH!" Nadine jumped. She looked behind her to find a grey and white wolf standing there. She looked in the mirror. He wasn't in the reflection. "Quit doing that!"

"I can't. It's fun." With that, he sat down next to Kelly where Nadine had been sitting earlier…and jumped back up. "Ow!" He picked up a dried up cherry he'd just sat on and glared at Nadine.

Nadine forced out a nervous smile.

"Wait a second," Ryan suddenly said, "Zadavia…you said 'technological audio-visual entertainment'?" Zadavia nodded. "Alright, guys, let her talk to me."

"Oh, so suddenly, _you're _the techie?" asked Kelly.

"Maybe not entirely, but this is my turf. She's talking about a video game."

"What?!" Jack yelled, "You called us about some dumb game?! We're not Beta testers!"

Zadavia gave him a glare. "Maybe not, but if you would _let me finish_—!"

Jack shut up. "Sorry."

Ryan gave him a quick look and turned back to Zadavia. "So when you say 'new development', I'm assuming you mean _Game On! _going on the internet."

"Precisely. This concerns me. See, once they're logged into the game, parents have no way of getting their children's attention."

"So basically, it's like normal," said Jack.

"This is different. Once you're inside the game, your mind belongs to the Toymaker, the creator of the game."

"So this guy is planning to take over the mind of every kid in the world so that he rules it?" asked Lucy. Zadavia nodded in confirmation. "Oh, this guy is _SO _going down."

"Yeah, how are we supposed to do that?" asked Ryan, "No one knows where this guy is."

"Because he's locked away in the electronic world where he made the game."

"Well, that explains a lot."

"If we are to do this, you must go into the game and shut it down from the inside."

"Oh, this just gets better and better!" Ryan started towards the lab. "I'm going in! Wish me luck!"

"WHOA!" Nadine stopped him, "Who said you get to go in alone?"

"Well, I'm the game guy here, I'm the one that's gonna actually be able to beat this thing."

"We don't wanna beat it, we wanna kill it!"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Not really. We're all going in together…well, all except Austin, obviously."

"Thank you," Austin said, gratefully. While being a good fighter, he was nowhere near a gamester.

"So what we really need to do here," Kelly said, handing Gabby back to Sophie, "is go into the game _through _a little magic-science communication with Danni and Dad and maybe—just maybe—we might be able to turn this thing off."

"And even if you don't, we can still pull you out!" Daniella (Danni, brown-haired human girl) agreed.

"You must put this plan into action fast, Loonakids," said Zadavia, "You only have until midnight. Zadavia out."

"Where does she go when she goes out, anyway?" asked Nadine, taking her dried up cherry from Austin.

"Don't know," said an older silver-and-white-furred bunny whose name was Ace, "But you guys got a game to beat."

"Finally, a _good_ mission," Ryan sneered.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tech and Daniella were fiddling with the computers with Rev.

The nine super-teens were now in black uniforms with different highlights (Nadine-pink, Benny-yellow, Lucy-brown, Robert-red, Jack-orange, Kelly-silver, Ryan-green, Sarah-blue, and Michael-purple).

"Don't you think going in there in uniform is gonna tip someone off?" asked Lucy.

"Well, you're not gonna be wearing the same thing in the game anyway," commented Daniella, hitting a few buttons, "I mean, as long as you wear the 3D glasses." She tossed a few pairs of glasses at them.

The kids caught them.

Nadine reluctantly put on hers. She pulled out her mirror again. She groaned as she took off her walnut headband— "AHA!" She whirled around. There was no one there. "Oh." She held up the mirror again as she took off her gummy bears bracelets and her fruit snack belt.

"Boo."

"GAH!" Nadine spun around again to glare at Austin. "I hate you."

Austin walked right past her.

Nadine glared after him. "Well!"

Austin approached Kelly. "Bet you miss the meteor, huh?"

"Not really. This time, Ryan is the one we've gotta worry about."

"I heard that!" Ryan said, walking by.

"You were meant to!" Kelly called after him.

Austin smiled one of his "just for Kelly" smiles.

Kelly smiled in return.

They leaned in…

"We're ready!" Tech snapped without looking, even though they still needed a few more seconds.

The sudden statement did, however, make Austin and Kelly back off each other.

"So…" Austin said.

"Yeah," Kelly said, walking off.

Daniella took out her wand as the team gathered, ready to go in.

While she was preparing the spell, Rev handed each of the kids an extra watch. "This'll-help-you-keep-track-of-how-much-time-you-have-left-by-recording-the-time-period-elapsed-during-gameplay-I'll-start-it-right-now-while-we-have-exactly-12-hours." He hit the button on Ryan's watch and it started beeping, flashing "12:00:00." Then 11:59:59. You get the picture.

"Hope you guys are ready for this," said Daniella.

"That depends," said Nadine, "What happens if we die?"

"You get sent back here. No big deal. Just let me zap!"

"Wait a minute—"

Daniella waved her wand, not letting her finish.

All nine kids got zapped into the computer.

"You couldn't let her finish?" asked Lexi.

"By the time she was done, our time would be up," Wendy answered for her.

"You gotta admit she has a point," said Austin, sitting down and letting them keep track of the kids over the computer and the spell.

The kids flew through the digital vortex and right into Level 1.

They fell in a pile on a street.

None of them were hurt.

Ryan noticed this and curiously and suspiciously pounded the street. It produced a bouncing sound. He groaned. "Computer generated." He stood up and helped up the others.

"Where are we?" asked Nadine. She examined her altered suit.

"Level 1," Ryan answered as Nadine felt around the suit and noticed the differences (for one thing, the triangle on the chest was an outline and not filled in), "Why couldn't Aunt Danni jump us forward a little?" He then looked around. "And as a bonus, it's low-rez. Great."

It was then that a bunch of frogs on pogo sticks hopped by them.

"…huh?"

The frogs hopped over to a young man and started attacking him with their tongues. He responded by grabbing one by the tongue and throwing it into the others. The boy then snatched one of the pogo sticks and started off.

The Loonakids exchanged looks and did the same.

Unfortunately, they did this at just the wrong time. They all accidentally grabbed the same one, which just so happened to be currently occupied by another boy.

"HEY!" the kid snapped, "Get your own ride!"

"Sorry!" Lucy said, "We thought this one was vacant!"

He started to ease the bouncing on them, pulling them up to the platform. "New players, huh?"

"You could say that."

"Well, here's a tip for you." He then hit a button and the platform retracted, dropping them all through a hole as he bounced on.

_At HQ…_

"How are they?" asked Sophie in concern.

"Well, all the vital signs are normal," Tech answered as he and Rev and Daniella monitored the systems.

"Yeah, but how are they?" Austin added on.

"Oh…" Daniella hesitated. "…they fell."

Everyone looked at her as she just kept working.

_In the game…_

The nine Loonakids lay on a platform in a dark cavern.

A droid flew up. "Wake up."

They roused slowly and groaned in pain, rubbing their heads.

"You fell three stories."

"We survived?" Robert asked in confusion.

"…not exactly."

Suddenly, the triangles of their suits glowed revealing 9s turning into 8s.

"That's your life count. After taking heavy damage, you lose a life."

"What happens if we hit 0?" Lucy asked warily.

"Game over. When you run out of lives, you lose. No checkpoints, no restarts."

Michael then got up and looked at the count on Ryan's watch. 7:46:52. "What happened to our twelve hours?! We barely have eight now!"

"Time flies when you're playing games. You'd better hurry." The droid then flew off.

Suddenly, the platform creaked and launched them like a spring. They landed above ground in a field loaded with bull's-eyes. Painfully.

The two boys they'd met earlier then came up and helped them up. "So who are you?" the first one asked.

Nadine sighed. "I'm Nadine, this is Benny, Lucy, Jack, Robert, Kelly, Ryan, Sarah, and Michael. Tell you the truth? We're the Loonakids. We need to get the Level 5 but don't have long to do it. And if we don't get to it before midnight and fix the situation, the Toymaker will take over the world."

"Level 5?" the first boy asked.

"Level 5 is unwinnable," the second one said.

"We understand that," Benny groaned, "But we have to save the world here. Kind of our job."

The second boy scoffed. "Hey, Rick! These kids say they're the Loonakids, they're trying to get to Level 5!"

The guy named Rick sat on a bull's-eye. "So I hear."

Ryan got it. "You guys are Beta tasters."

Rick jumped off the bull's-eye, letting it walk off. "Yup. And if anyone is gonna get to the great prize of Level 5, it's gonna be one of us."

"Whatever!" Jack groaned, "Look, we need cheat codes, shortcuts, back doors, anything!"

"No can do, buddy. Use of any hack, code, or cheat would trigger an immediate Game Over and permanent evac from the game. You have to play the game by the rules or not at all."

"So how do we get to Level 2 from here?" Ryan asked.

Rick sighed. "See that target?" He gestured to one. "Hit it hard enough and you'll bounce straight to the moon."

"I'd suggest a running start," said the smart one (second boy), "Level 2 is on the dark side of the moon."

Lucy groaned as she and the other Loonakids formed a line and all prepped for the jump. "Not a lot of realism in these games, is there?" She grabbed her friends and they all rushed the target at once, bouncing right off.

Once they were gone, Rick smirked. "Won't be seeing them anymore. Less competition the better." He led his buddies (I'll just say it: their names are Artie and Greg) off.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Loonakids were flying through space in the game world before finally landing on the moon and bouncing like crazy until they simply landed in a dog pile…and their life counts all at once went from 8 to 7.

"OH, COME ON!" Lucy groaned as she helped her friends up.

The game droid then flew up. "Message from 726-4938."

They knew the number though hardly anyone else did: Loonatics HQ.

"Do you accept?"

"You bet," Robert smirked.

The droid opened a video image screen.

_"OK," Daniella sighed from the other end, "Here's the deal: any further help in the game from us would be cheating so we're cutting off from here on out."_

"What help?" Nadine asked sarcastically.

_"That's kind of what I've been saying," Wendy commented._

_"Forget it!" Tech groaned, "Now, listen, you do still have a lifeline. You can open it now or save it—"_

"NOW! Give it now!" Ryan cried.

_"You can bring in one person from the outside to help out."_

Ryan exchanged looks with the others… "Call up our contact files."

The droid then relayed the contact info.

_Austin: Powerful, athletic, knows karate._

_Macy: Intelligent._

_Elena: Strategic._

_Brenda: Knows karate._

Jack thought that over. "Wait, wait, wait, go over Brenda."

_Pros: Superior strength, superior speed, experience in all fighting styles._

_Cons: Temporarily physically disabled._

"Jack, the droid's right," Kelly said, "Her leg still hasn't healed from the fight with Valentina and Esmeralda. She needs three more days."

"We don't have three more days, but we also don't have a better shot than a Slayer!" Jack rebounded. And for once, his argument made sense and could not be countered by any of the others.

_"We already have her on the line if you wanna make the call," Sophie said._

The Loonakids exchanged looks…

"Bring in Brenda," Ryan agreed.

"Selected!" the droid cried as the image screen was replaced with the dial of a phone-teleportation spell, "One moment."

Suddenly, the images began to summon a person and the countdown on Ryan's watch flew down to 6:00:00.

Then all the pixels formed into the being and collapsed…dropping the injured Slayer to the moon rocks.

"Ouch," Jack groaned as he and the others rushed over to help her up.

The Slayer named Brenda Sanders groaned as she messed with her half-broken leg. "What just happened?! Where are we?!"

"In a video game," Sarah stated bluntly.

"…what?!"

"Long story short, madman named Toymaker wants to enslave all the kids in the world, we have to shut the game down before he can get that far."

"…oh…is it odd that this is a normal occurrence for me by now?"

"Speaking from experience…little bit."

Brenda, leaning her injured side on Jack, then noticed something. "What's that?"

Ryan looked. "It's a power-up." He looked it over and smiled. "I think you might want this." He tossed it over to her.

She caught it perfectly (Slayer reflexes) and the light collapsed and flowed into her leg, mending it completely. She smiled and shook herself off. "Whoa. I know this is digital and all but THAT SO TOTALLY ROCKED!" She smirked, hopping giddily. "OK, now what?"

"Well, we've got somewhere to be." Michael led them off.

_Meanwhile…_

An evildoer with dark hair, dark eyes, and a pale-from-lack-of-sun complexion stood in his lair, watching the Loonakids (and Brenda) on a digital screen (as if everything else wasn't digital). He smirked. "Think you can catch me, do you, kiddies? Well…you will."

_On the digital moon…_

The gang was walking to an arena from which robot parts were flying.

"What is there an inventors' convention in there?" Kelly joked as she led the gang in.

Nope. Robot battle.

Once the battle was over, the host then walked up. "Ooh! Courageous new contestants. Welcome to the Robo-Con."

"We need to get to Level 2!" Benny explained.

"Well, you came to the wrong place. This is the Arena of Misfortune. If you wanna get to Level 2 now, you've gotta fight and win."

Naturally, everyone backed up, leaving Ryan standing there.

"Perfect."

"What?!" Ryan cried even as he was being dragged off, "Wait! I didn't—" Too late. He was thrown into a lift that yanked him up to the top floor.

The host then looked at the other nine of them. "You'll have to wait on standby to assist…and backup play when he loses." He shooed them into a control box before they could say anything in return.

Ryan finally got to the top of the player's box while the others shuffled into the control booth…and saw the host there.

"Hey there."

"What—how did—you were just—"

The host just pulled him off to a platform and attached a game control laser to the wrist not holding the stopwatch (which by now read 5:43:28).

Ryan looked at him. "OK, I can see where we're going here but…who am I fighting?"

"Her."

Across the arena, a young girl with wavy brunette hair and sparkling silver eyes was also on a platform arranging her battle gear.

Ryan blinked, seeing her over a monitor on the platform. "I can't fight a girl! …unless she's a supervillain or something."

"Just don't get too trashed. Then I win bonus points!" The host kid scurried off.

Ryan started looking over the control gauntlet. He couldn't figure it out. "This isn't standard issue! These buttons aren't labeled!"

Too late. The doors opened to reveal that the platform was a control platform for a large robot (that appeared a lot like his battle suit). The controls then locked into his boots to keep him from falling off. But that didn't keep him balanced, especially since he was freaking out.

He quickly scrambled with the buttons and figured out one. "Whoa! Mimic feature! OK, right foot, left foot." He started walking. "Right foot—GAH!" He started struggling to keep balance. "HOW DO YOU WORK THIS THING?!" He then half-collapsed. But at least he got his balance back. "Oh boy." He then dropped.

The others winced from the booth.

"That's gotta hurt," Sarah groaned.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ryan finally picked himself up on the robot-control platform and got to the center of the arena.

The girl he was fighting stood there, too.

"OK, I want a good clean fight," the arena droid stated, "No ear-biting, claw-digging, kidney-punches, or eye-gouging…unless, of course, you just can't help yourself."

Ryan looked at the girl. "Hey. I'm Ryan."

She just scoffed at him…and hit him hard enough to knock him into the wall.

The others Loonakids (and Brenda), still in the control booth, winced again.

"And that," Sarah groaned, "That also looked quite painful."

Ryan picked himself up, the robot he was on still following his every move.

The girl smirked. "Hey. I'm Demi." She held her hand out.

He cautiously reached out his—

And her robot grabbed his, throwing him again.

In round two, she jumped him, pounced him, collapsed him, and flipped him before finally grabbing him by the ankles and swinging him in the air, making him fall so hard to the ground that his life count cut from 7 to 6.

Ryan groaned, unable to get up. "Help me."

Demi then walked up and put her foot on his robot.

He then got an idea…he, without need to get up yet, swung himself around, flinging his robot's legs into hers and making her fall.

She quickly jumped back up as he picked himself up. She started to rush him but he jumped over her, making her pound herself into the wall.

"Nope," Robert smirked at Sarah, "_That's _what hurts."

Demi brushed herself off…her life count appearing and cutting from 9 to 8…and then to 7.

In round three, Ryan jumped out of her way and started circling her. She couldn't keep up or corner him and lost all track of her own motions, collapsing in dizziness and confusion. He then simply had to walk up and poke her to make her collapse entirely.

She fell so hard that her life count dropped straight down to 3.

"Well, well, well," the host said as he brought in the others to Ryan, "For a kid who doesn't know how to fight…you sure know how to fight."

Ryan smirked as he pulled his teammates (and Brenda) onto his platform. "If we told you the truth, you'd never believe it."

The host smirked. "Well, congrats…and keep the controller." He then pushed down the platform and sent them hurtling back to earth.

_In the Toymaker's lair…_

The Toymaker was no pacing in his digital cavern. "So let's just go over it all so there are no mistakes, no errors, no lack of communication amongst us. What I want—what we want—what do we want?"

Three forms of him stood there.

"Well, our time on this planet is drawing to a close," his smart form said, "It belongs now to our youth."

"And we control their minds!" his soldier self stated.

"We could start the world over and cure it of its diseases," his hippie half smirked, "We could begin anew."

The Toymaker glared at all of them. He then threw a rock at them (it went right through them, they were holograms after all). "Then what we could do is what we should do! Am I doing the right thing?"

"It's not about the right thing, it's about the smart thing," his smart form said.

"And I think I speak for all of us when I say WE WANT OUT!" his soldier self stated.

"You have the children's minds in your hold, the question now is what are you teaching them?" his hippie half asked.

The Toymaker just looked at all of them. "Who are you people?"

The three of them exchanged looks. "We are you."

"Oh! Right. Forgive me. I sometimes forget the extent of my programming powers and for a second there I actually believed you existed. Goodbye." He then hit a button and they all disappeared. "Out, out, out—I've been in here too long!" He sighed and looked at a layout of the game world. "But this childish game will soon be over and then…the real one begins."

_Meanwhile…_

The ten heroes got themselves together. They then approached a ramp leading to the next level.

There stood Rick, Artie, and Greg.

Greg whipped out a Tech-Pad…and looked at their energy signatures. "No way…it's really them!" He rushed up with his two friends. "You're really the Loonakids!" He then noticed Brenda. "Who's that?"

Brenda glared at him even as she was filing her nails. "A friend. Who are _you_?"

"She's our lifeline," Lucy explained to the boys, "She'll help us get to Level 5."

"So you can win the game?" Rick asked.

"…I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Come on, boys, just because they all made it out of Robo-Con in one piece doesn't mean they're really these super kids."

"He's the first I've seen to make it out with the power laser."

Ryan looked at the control on the wrist not holding the stopwatch (which by now read 4:09:18).

"Give me a break," Rick groaned, "These wimps are phonies." He then stormed off.

"Well, one way to find out," Artie smirked, "Mega-Race. Fastest, most dangerous race in the game world."

"Whoa, wait a minute, there are easier ways of proving—" Ryan started.

Artie pushed him. "Go."

"I'm going." He walked off, the others following.

_"The race will begin shortly," _the Toymaker's voice sounded over the track as the gamers all rushed to the starting point where a large arrangement of racing cars were arranged, _"Claim your vehicle."_

"Well, you're up, buddy," Jack said, pushing Ryan into a bike.

Ryan glared at him. "Why is it always me?!"

"You're the game-geek that wanted us to do this," Sarah sneered as she and the others went off to their positions farther back.

Lucy just groaned. She got the last bike…and it was small. "You've gotta be kidding." Still, she got on.

"This race will tell us if you're really the Loonakids," Greg said.

"If you are, you can hang with us," Rick said, "But if you're phonies, Artie will crush you." Even as he said that, Artie approached one of the taken bikes and tossed it, flinging the gamer inside across the track before getting in.

"Can't we just show you guys our powers?!" Michael demanded.

"That'd be considered cheating; you'd get an immediate Game Over and have no chance of getting to Level 5."

"…race is good." He then looked at Brenda. "Of course, it would've been nice to know that before we started the game."

"Don't look at me, I just got here," Brenda sighed.

_"There are no rules in this race," _the Toymaker's voice sounded again, _"except win. At any cost."_

Suddenly, every bike on the track was enhanced.

Lucy smirked as hers gained controls (that she could read instead of tech-speak) and extra wheels. She flipped her hair out of the way as she grabbed the steering mechanisms. "Now that's more like it."

One of the other racers, wearing a helmet, got in front of Ryan and pointed at him before making the "you're dead" gesture.

Ryan looked at his friends. "What did I do?"

Rick just smirked. "We'll try to help you guys out…as much as we can."

_"The race will begin…now. 1-2-3-GO!"_

Before the gang could process this, everything started up.

Suddenly, Ryan was dodging obstacles set up by the other players. Finally, he hit a button…that sent a very large pie flinging at the helmeted player doing the sabotage. He smirked. "Easy as pie."

Meanwhile, Rick was right next to Nadine. "Hey, pinky! Hit the red button!"

Nadine looked at the button on her panel. "The one that says 'do not push'?!"

"Yeah, hit it! It's a turbo boost!"

"Are you sure?"

Rick nodded.

Nadine groaned and reluctantly hit the button…which popped her from her seat and sent her flying up at a post. She quickly grabbed on, leaving her dangling fifteen feet over the track with her life count fading to 6, dead-even with Ryan's. She then saw Rick coming up and dropped, landing right on the back of his bike…and starting to fly with the speed. She held onto the back of the bike but it wouldn't keep her tethered from the ground for long. "HEY! GIVE ME A HAND!"

"Yeah? How 'bout a foot?" He crushed her hand with his foot, sending her flying into Brenda.

Brenda looked at her, holding her there with the hand not holding the steering mechanisms.

Nadine smirked. "Hey."

Brenda groaned and moved over enough in the seat to give her a place to sit.

Rick just smirked. "Sucker." He then saw the flaw in his plan: Nadine's empty bike right in front of him ready to crash. Once his bike hit it, both bikes were sent flying. He fell to the next track (his life count falling to 7 as he did so) and landed on one of the other riders' back. He smirked. "My turn." He grabbed him and threw him from the bike, dropping into the seat and taking over.

The racers kept going…and saw that they were headed for a ramp that went straight into the air and then back down.

"Uh oh…" Robert quickly latched onto the others' and took them in a straight line down the ramp. "OK, not doing that again," he groaned as he shook himself off.

Please note here that Greg wasn't so lucky and fell between the two arches of the ramp and fell until his life count hit 6.

The racers kept riding down the track and fell into a tunnel. They ran through the curves and swerves with ease…until the track hit a dead end and everyone started free-falling twenty feet. Naturally, everyone in the tumble lost a life.

Ryan thought fast and grabbed one of the bikes falling with them, gesturing to his friends to do the same, and got the motor running as they landed back on the track and started off on the final stretch.

They pulled around corkscrews and sharp turns until finally…the helmeted racer came back and started attacking Ryan again.

Ryan dodged every attack…except the one when they ran over the back of his ride and he was left riding a hubcap. He quickly started charging up momentum, actually grabbing onto Kelly and having her fling him forward.

_"5…4…3…2…1… WINNER! By a hubcap! Ryan Coyote!"_

Ryan got himself together as the other racers came to the finish line, actually flipping the hubcap in question like a skateboard and grabbing it.

"Wow," Greg smirked as the gang got together, "You are the Loonakids. You've got some mad skills."

Ryan just smirked.

Then the racer with the helmet came up and revealed themselves…as Demi. She smirked. "So. I hear you're the Loonakids."

Sarah smirked back. "No kidding." She then looked at Demi, Rick, Artie, and Greg as a group. "OK, here it is. If we really can't use our powers here without shutting down the whole mission, then we need _you guys_ to lead us to Level 5."

"Alright then, we work together," Rick said as he walked forward, "But if you fail us or if you're not who you say you are, those life counts will be hitting 0 faster than you can say 'oops.'"

"Deal. Now let's move!"

And so they set off.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In HQ, the ex-Loonatics, the triplets, and Austin were watching the Loonakids and their gang go through the game.

"They're doing good, aren't they?" Wendy smirked.

"A little too good," Tech said in a panic.

Rev looked at him. "What-do-you-mean?"

"I think they woke up the Programmers."

"WHAT?!"

"That's bad?" Duck asked.

"Really bad," Tech answered.

"Well, pull them out of there!" Sophie snapped.

"It's too late!"

_In the game…_

The gang was walking along a platform bridge in an obviously virtual track.

"Well, this is cool, we'll get there in no time," Benny smirked.

Suddenly, the radiance sparks around them began to emit an energy signature.

Greg traced it. "Uh oh! Programmers!"

"'Programmers'?" Brenda asked.

"The braniacs who wrote the book for the game."

"So they work for the Toymaker?" Michael asked, nervously exchanging looks with his teammates.

Rick sighed. "They're the reason you found us on Level 1: they caught Greg cheating on the Mega-Race. If they think we've been cheating now, they'll bounce us back to Level 1 when they catch us."

"'Level 1'?" Robert asked, "We don't have time for that!"

Ryan confirmed that by showing that their timer read 3:27:28.

Suddenly, the lights around them shut down.

"Split up!" Rick cried, rushing off.

"Don't split up! It never works!" Ryan cried. Unfortunately, no one heard (or just plain didn't listen). He was left standing there alone. "Great." He groaned and started off.

"Psst!"

"AAAHHH!"

Demi scoffed at him. "Could you at least try and _act _like a Loonakid?"

Ryan shook himself off. "I am."

"Prove it." She held up an info disk. "Use your powers to open this."

"What is it?"

"The reason the Programmers are chasing us right now."

"This is a game cheat?!"

"Do you wanna beat this game or not?"

Ryan groaned and pulsed a burst of his technopath power through the disk.

Instantly, a hologram layout of the game appeared before them.

"OK, so we're in Machine City. If we cut across here _over _Level 3, we'll go right into Level 4. Then if we run by Lava Mountain, we'll be right at the door of the unwinnable level."

Ryan smirked. "Shortcuts. You're good." He deactivated the disk—

"Game cheats?"

Ryan and Demi gasped.

There were two of the Programmers, dressed in leather and glaring furiously.

"That's against the rules," the second one said.

The first one then started poking Ryan until his life count fell to 4. "We're gonna have to bounce you back to Level 1."

"You can't do that!" Demi snapped, slapping his hand away, "He's a Loonakid."

"KELLY! BRENDA! HELP!" Ryan cried.

Demi glared at him.

The Programmers just scoffed at him.

"Look, buddy. One of the Loonakids is calling for his girlfriends."

"Come and get me, girls."

"What are they gonna do?"

Suddenly, two fingers poked them on their shoulders.

There behind them stood Kelly and Brenda. Brenda quickly kicked one of them down at the same time Kelly Vamped and held off the second.

"You were saying?" Brenda smirked.

The others then came up.

"WHOA!" Greg jumped back into Rick and Artie when he saw Kelly in Vamp form and Brenda showing off her Slayer strength.

"Hold that thought, boys," Kelly growled before throwing the Programmer in her grasp over the ledge into a pile of junk.

Brenda then looked at the one she held down and grabbed him by the coat, lifting him off the ground. "You wanna try?"

He jumped from her grasp and fell off the ledge on top of his buddy.

"Good choice!" She then looked at the others and nodded in the direction they were to take. "Come on, people, look alive." She then led them off.

_In the Toymaker's lair…_

Toymaker was watching the whole thing with his virtual selves.

"They're good," his soldier self stated, "The little Loonakids are _very _good."

"But they've gotta keep going," his smart form pointed out, "We run the risk of discouraging them if the next levels are too challenging."

"But only by seeking challenges can we hope to find the best in ourselves," said his hippie half.

"Can't we help him?"

"Absolutely not!" his soldier self snapped as he pulled them to the other side of the room, "It's against the rules of the game!"

Toymaker then snapped. "This isn't a game! IT'S LIFE!" He cooled himself off. "Sorry. I don't mind talking to myself but when I cut myself out of the conversation, I start to snap." He then realized something. "That's it. We'll give them a gift: the gift of life." He went over to the programming station…

_Back with the kids…_

They were now making their way out of Machine City to Level 3.

"Alright, if this madness keeps up," Jack groaned, "I'm gonna hit myself in the head with a frying pan just to wake up from this—OOF!" He bounced back when something solid appeared in front of his head and he didn't see it in time to stop walking.

Brenda caught him. "You alright, Jack?"

"Hey!" Artie said, "He found a life pack!"

"That's rare," Rick said, "I've never seen on up close before."

"What's it do?" Robert asked.

"Crush it and your life count will reload," Artie explained.

Naturally, the Loonakids gang looked to their teammate with the least life count: Ryan.

Ryan sighed and took the pack…walking over to Demi. "I want you to have it."

Demi looked at him. "You need it more than I do."

"I'm the gamester here, I can handle myself. Your life's one lower than mine!"

"I can't!"

Ryan didn't listen. He crushed the life pack and flung the resulting powder at Demi.

Demi's life count appeared, going from 3 back up to 9.

"I owed you from Robo-Con. This one's on me."

She looked at him…and smiled. "Thanks."

_Twenty minutes later…_

By the time the timer hit 3:00:00, the gang had made it to Level 3.

Artie looked around at the moving puzzle pieces that formed the platform they were walking on. "I wish my family could see this place."

Ryan looked at him. "What are you doing in the game, Artie?"

At that, everyone froze. And everyone but Artie and Ryan stepped back.

Artie looked at Ryan…and took his goggles off for the first time to look at him. "Well, actually, I'm here on a Beta tester trial but I'm really here for the great prize of Level 5. It'll save my family from poverty."

Ryan gave him a sad, sympathetic look and exchanged such looks with his teammates.

"Do you really think it's true? Untold riches? What do you think waits for us behind those doors?"

Ryan sighed, making his decision. "Artie, you should know. When we reach Level 5—"

"No. Don't tell me yet. I want it to be a surprise."

"…I'm sure it will be."

_"Attention, gamers!" _the Toymaker's voice sounded through the Level, _"Stand on the red line."_

The puzzle pieces forming the platform formed together into another yard of it, separated from what they'd already been standing on by a red line that the gang quickly stood on.

_"Choose your best player."_

Naturally, everyone looked at Ryan.

Ryan smirked and walked onto the game-stand.

_"Choose your strongest player."_

Kelly looked at her friends. "You thinking Brenda?"

"Actually, that'd be Artie," Rick corrected.

Artie smirked and got onto the other game-stand.

Suddenly, the stand moved like a lift from the platform to the center of the abyss before it. Each of the two boys was then given a fighting staff.

_"Survival of the fittest! Face your opponent!"_

The two game-stands turned to face the two boys to each other.

"WHAT?!" Ryan cried, "I'm not fighting Artie!"

"I don't wanna crush Ryan!" Artie said.

_"The winner shall proceed with the others to Level 4. The loser shall be given a Game Over and be evacuated permanently from the game."_

Ryan looked at Artie in panic. "Look, me and my friends—"

Artie cut him off as he put his goggles back on: "Sorry, Ryan. But I have my own family to think about."

"Artie, I can't beat you!"

Artie answered that with a few flips and spins with the staff. "I know."

_"FIGHT!"_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ryan didn't even bother starting to fight. He ran for it, the puzzle pieces floating through the air forming extra platforms and not allowing him to fall into the abyss below.

Artie just followed until he had him cornered.

Ryan instantly started trying to whack with the staff but he kept missing.

Artie then hit him with his own staff.

He blocked with his but that didn't for long before Artie finally pulled a spin move that knocked him over hard enough to drop his life count to 3. Naturally, he started running again. Once he was enough in the clear, he started using what spare time he had to figure out what all the staff could do. Finally, he was able to form an ice shield with it but Artie just smashed through it when he caught up with him.

Demi winced from the viewers' platform. She couldn't watch this.

Artie then formed a claw with the staff and grabbed Ryan by the throat, holding him up to a wall that formed.

Ryan quickly made use of his legs to kick him back, falling to the platform…but also falling his life count to 2.

"Not that I'm rooting for anyone in particular, but those were some really cool moves," Greg commented from the viewers' platform.

Artie then knocked Ryan into the wall, collapsing it and collapsing his life count down to 1. He then hit him with all he could and threw him into the next platform.

Ryan lay there, half-conscious, down to .5.

Artie came up. "I'm really sorry about this, Ryan." He held up the staff, forming an electric current—that quickly collapsed and deactivated entirely. He looked at the staff in confusion, pounding it a few times to see if it was just a short circuit of some sort.

Suddenly, Ryan's platform began to retract to the gang. "What's going on?"

_"You've been tagged," _the Toymaker's voice announced.

"What?!"

_"Someone has chosen to take your place."_

Ryan looked at his friends as they pulled him to the platform. They all shook their heads to confirm it wasn't them.

Then he realized who was missing.

He turned around. "DEMI! What are you doing?!"

"You've got a mission, Ryan! I don't!" Demi called back as her platform pulled her over to Artie.

"No, don't do it!"

_"Fight!"_

The fight lasted all of five seconds. Demi attempted to throw Artie but he dodged every attack, finally pulling his own on the platform at her feet, collapsing it…and making her fall into the abyss.

_"Demi! Game Over!"_

Ryan just stared at this in shock.

Michael looked at his brother. "You OK, buddy?"

"…I never even got her phone number."

Nadine smirked. "Come on, buddy…we have work to do." She then led him off.

Artie came back. "I'm sorry, guys, but…my family…" No one responded so he simply followed him off as the platform dissolved into floating puzzle pieces again behind them.

_In the Toymaker's lair…_

Toymaker watched the whole debacle. "Bring it on, kiddos. When you find me, the world will truly pay the price. Here in my cyber-prison I was forced to create. Now I will destroy!" He then crushed the table in one smash. "On with the game!"

_Back with the gang…_

They finally entered Level 4, their time by now only 2:00:00.

"Alright, we're here," Rick said, "Now where's Level 5?"

"That's it!" Brenda snapped, "First of all, I'm getting a little sick of you people! Second, you don't ask the questions around here, that's Jack's job!"

"Yeah!" Jack snapped as well, "…wait, what?"

"And third—"

"We're going into Lava Mountain," Ryan said.

"We're doing what?" Sarah asked.

"Beyond that is the passage to Level 5."

"So we go through a mountain of hot molten rock to get there?" Lucy asked, "Yeah, I don't think so."

"Oh, so suddenly _you're _the game expert?" Rick asked, "Very funny. We're following your game boss."

Lucy sighed and pulled Ryan aside. "Look, I've put up with them for enough time already. We only have two hours left, we don't need them holding us down."

Ryan sighed. "It's too late now, we promised them they could tag along. Look." He held up the map disk when the three Beta testers weren't looking. "This is how I know where to go. Trust me, we can do this."

The team exchanged looks.

"Alright then," Benny sighed, "Lead the way."

Ryan smirked. "Let's move, people!" He then led them off.

Only a few minutes later, they were at the peak of…

"Lava Mountain," Robert sighed, "…nice place this time of year."

"It's summer, I'd prefer to not be surrounded by more hot things," Jack groaned.

Brenda groaned, too. "Why is it that every video game has to have lava?"

"Alright, that's not true!" Greg corrected, "_Halo_ doesn't have lava. And I doubt most of the Ubisoft and Littlest Pet Shop games would have something like that in their workings."

Kelly looked over the edge and kicked a rock down the mountain. It fell into the lava and immediately disintegrated. "For once, Jack's right. It's too hot. We'll have to climb around it or it's Game Over."

"But I have six lives left," Rick said, "Artie's got all nine, Greg has—"

"It doesn't matter! You fall in, you lose. Games usually get tougher as you go along. This is one of them. We'll have to go another way." She started leading them off back down the path.

Ryan looked at the map disk before following. "This doesn't make any sense." He sighed, putting it back in his pocket, and walked off.

_In the Toymaker's lair…_

Toymaker watched the whole thing on his digital screen. "Unbelievable. I give them the health pack, I give them the map—what more do they want?!" He then thought of something and smirked evilly. He walked over to the control panel. "Send in the Tinker Toys." He opened a glass case and hit the button inside…

_Back on Lava Mountain…_

The gang continued on when suddenly they ground shook.

"What's going on?" Brenda asked cautiously.

Suddenly, the ground before them split to release dozens upon dozens of metal creatures.

"TINKER TOYS!" Artie cried, rushing them off.

Brenda stayed at the back to fight off the ones that got too close, then gained enough speed to level with Greg. "Wait, what's worse?! Lava or Tinker Toys?!"

Greg looked back then started running again. "DEFINITELY TINKER TOYS!"

"What do we do?!" Benny cried.

Kelly rushed to the edge of the peak…and jumped off.

"KELLY!" Sarah rushed up.

Her sister fell off the edge and pried part of the rock off the wall with her acceleration. That way, when she fell into the lava river, she had a surfboard.

The others exchanged looks for a second then quickly followed her example. They skated over the lava through the mountain and down to the doors.

_In HQ…_

"What's going on?" Daniella asked she and the others watched the kids progressing through the lava river.

"They're headed off-course," Tech said. He then checked their aim. "The Toymaker's driving them right to his lair!"

"Oh-this-is-a-disaster!" Rev cried, "They'll-never-shut-down-the-game-they'll-get-too-close-the-Toymaker-will-get-loose-Zadavia-told-us-not-to-let-that-happen-WHAT-DO-WE-DO?!"

Tech thought it over… "We have to drown them."

Everyone looked at him in shock.

"They'll get Game Over'd and Daniella can shut the spell off and pull them back here! We can take over from there if we work it out right."

The parents exchanged looks…and then Sophie looked at Austin.

Austin thought it over… "Do it."

Tech typed in the codes…and hit the button.

_In the game…_

The gang continued on through the Lava Mountain. Suddenly, a rumbling emerged.

There was a large lava monster.

"That's new," Greg commented.

The lava monster growled, raised a large rock, and threw it into the river. It instantly threw him out.

"Greg!" Ryan cried.

The lava monster continued.

"Artie!" "Rick!" "Benny!" "Lucy!" "Jack!" "Robert!" "Kelly!" "Sarah!" "Michael!" "Brenda!" "NADINE!"

Then he got in trouble. The lava monster had the biggest rock yet.

"…me."

_SPLASH!_

_In HQ…_

Tech just waited until finally exploding in shock. "What happened?!"

Daniella held up her sparking wand. "They fell in. The spell is working. It should be breaking."

"They should've gotten their Game Overs. …they should be back here." He looked over the vital signs to find them all off the sensors. "Where are they?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Ryan pulled himself out of the lava river, gasping for breath and shaking himself off dog-style.

"I thought I was a goner," Artie groaned as the others either brushed lava off themselves or helped up Ryan, "I saw my life flash before my eyes…all I could hear was my father saying 'You blew it, Art! No untold riches for you!'"

Ryan sighed once he was cleared off. "Why was the lava so cold? I thought it was immediate Game Over."

"I don't know," Robert sighed, "But look what we've got here." He helped the others move some rocks out of the way to reveal the doors to Level 5. "So…how do we open it?"

Meanwhile, Greg approached Rick and Artie and sat them down on a rock while the others continued to work away on the door. "Rick, Artie, we have to talk. It's about the Loonakids over there, highly sensitive." His two friends looked at him, their full attention on him. "I've been rereading my Tech Manual. It talks about a Deceiver in the game that misleads players down paths no one will survive…and I think there might be more than one Deceiver." He accented that by looking at the Loonakids and Brenda.

"What do we do?" Artie asked.

"We'll have to get rid of them. Or risk losing the game."

Rick nodded and led his two friends over to the doors.

Kelly was finally giving up on opening them. "This is hopeless. How much time do we even have left?"

Ryan sighed, looking at the timer. "30 minutes."

"What happens in 30 minutes?" asked Rick.

"This place gets flooded with players from around the world…" Sarah said.

"Oh, great, competition."

"…and the Toymaker takes over their minds."

"Huh?"

"That's why we're here," Lucy sighed, "We have to stop that."

"How? By shutting down the game?"

"Well, I didn't tell them."

"Lucy!" Benny snapped.

"WHAT?!"

"We're not letting you shut down the game!" Rick snapped, "At least not until we get the great prize of Level 5."

"That's what we've been trying to tell you!" Michael growled, "THERE IS NO PRIZE! You get imprisoned in the game forever, game over!"

"Oh, really? Fine. But first we're gonna see just how fast your life count can run backwards!"

Brenda got in the way. "You'll have to go through me first."

"What are you gonna do, girly?"

"This 'girly' can pry your arms from the sockets and beat you to death with them!" Kelly snapped, "And forget her, you still have to take on the Loonakids for your little plan to work!"

"Stop saying that! We know you're not the real Loonakids!"

"You want proof?!" Nadine growled, her eyes glowing pink intensely, "FINE!" She exploded a burst of fire into the doors to Level 5, blowing them from the hinges and across the room before anyone could realize what she did.

Jack then glared at her. "Why couldn't you do that five minutes ago?!"

Something then caught Ryan's attention. Something glowing.

Ryan cautiously walked into Level 5.

Then the glow faded to reveal a certain player.

"…Demi?"

Demi smiled. "Ryan! Come on, guys. I found the switch to shut down the game. And the exit portal!"

Nadine looked at her. "How'd you get back?"

"There must've been a glitch."

Nadine was still suspicious. So she tried for the first time to read her mind…and got nothing but static. "…Ryan…who gave you that map?"

Ryan looked at her. "She did, why?"

"I'll tell you why…she's not real."

"What are you talking about?" Demi asked, "I'm the one who's been helping you guys through the game! Now do you wanna win or not?"

Nadine then clenched it…by being the first to touch her and showing that her hand went right through her. She was a hologram. "The Toymaker designed her to lead us here and keep us from taking down the game. She's the reason this level's unwinnable. She's the Deceiver."

Ryan looked at her in shock. "What?"

Demi looked at him. "…sorry, Ryan. It's in my programming."

_"Congratulations!" _Suddenly, the Toymaker's image appeared overhead. _"You made it to the end of the game, you've won! And your prize is…you get to stay here. Forever. Welcome to the game."_

Suddenly, the image was replaced by three large robots.

Robert quickly held up a rock shield but it couldn't possibly hold them forever. "FIND THE EXIT PORTAL! GO! RUN!"

They ran to find the way out, the Loonakids using their powers however they could to hold off the robots in the meantime.

Kelly finally used her half-Vamp agility to run up the wall to one of the robots and pry out its circuit board, landing on the ground next to the resulting mass of nuts and bolts…and finding something next to where she landed. She turned a wheel to reveal that doing so opened a portal. "I FOUND THE WAY OUT! EVERYBODY GET OVER HERE!"

Everyone made their way to her.

Ryan, his eyes glowing green, used his tech powers on the portal to hold it open and then spread the electrical blast throughout the room, turning off everything there and thus shutting off the game.

Well, he turned off everything but the portal and the robots.

Ryan and Kelly continued to hold the portal open as everyone rushed through.

Demi watched…and rushed up to the wheel, pushing Kelly through the portal and taking control.

"DEMI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"SAVING YOU! GO!"

Ryan looked at her as his spell and the glow in his eyes subsided.

Demi sighed, her eyes watering. "I can't hold it forever, Ryan."

Ryan looked at her…and then rushed through the portal, closing it behind him.

The tunnel they were now in led directly to the portal out.

"Well, nice meeting you…heroes," Greg smirked.

"It's been real," Rick said, "…sort of."

Artie shook Michael's hand…making him wince and collapse a little. "Thanks, pal."

"…thanks, could you let go now?" Michael groaned.

Artie complied.

The three boys finished their goodbyes…and made their way off.

The Loonakids and Brenda then exchanged looks.

Jack smirked at Brenda. "You were great. The way you took on those Tinker Toys? Hot! …I mean cool! Cool."

Brenda smirked…then looked down and sighed, her smiling fading. "I don't know if I can leave yet." She looked at leg. "It feels awful being hurt—I didn't know Slayers could go through that."

"No one's invincible, B," Benny said, "We should know."

"You're a hero," Jack smiled, taking her hand, "Maybe more so than some of us."

Brenda smiled. "…for someone so self-centered, you sure know how to charm a Slayer. Come on." She then walked over to the portal and, in unison with the Loonakids, jumped through.

_Five minutes later…_

The gang was now finishing their reunited moment.

"You did it!" Wendy cried, hugging her son, "And you made it out!"

"Did you ever doubt we would?" Robert smirked at his aunt, "Come on, we've been through worse than that!"

"Guys, I hate to break through our little moment here," Tech said, "but we've gotta go over this. How exactly did you shut down the game?"

"During the last level when I opened the portal out, I overloaded the circuit board systems," Ryan explained, "It seemed to work at the time."

"Oh, it worked, the game's off, but we need to make sure we did this correctly."

_"Warning! Warning! Communication security breech!"_

_Suddenly, the Toymaker was on the screen._

"…and that's why."

_"I'm coming back. To settle the score. For imprisoning me! For using me!"_

"I thought we'd never heard of this guy," Brenda said, leaning on her crutch.

"…Zadavia never said that," Sophie suddenly realized.

_"All I wanted to do was to right the wrongs, start over, a new world order—a new chance. To give everyone a SECOND CHANCE! But no! So now I'm taking this game to the next level!"_

_BOOM!_

Suddenly, the tower shook as the earth did outside.

"What's going on?" Archer asked in a panic as Sarah held him.

Sarah looked around. "…I think I know." She rushed from the building, everyone following her close.

They made it outside…to find the street empty.

"…uh…where's the big bad?" Brenda asked.

Sarah thought fast. She whipped out the 3D glasses and put them back on. "WHOA!"

Everyone followed her example.

They could now see at least a dozen robots on the street, ready to attack.

Lexi panicked. "…game on."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The gang rushed to avoid attacks from the robots, Rev handling injured Brenda.

"There's only one thing to do in a situation like this," said Kelly.

"Shglahhlgh what?" Slam asked.

"…call in the family." She pulled out her COMM and hit the mass text to allies.

Less than five minutes later, in rushed Macy Mastermind.

"That was fast even for an inventor," Tech smirked.

"The seer's portals really come in handy."

"Well, I think these come more in handy considering the current situation." He handed over the 3D glasses.

Macy looked up. "…well, this won't be easy." She smirked. "But I'm in the mood to kick some metal." She instantly got to work taking down the first.

"Great…what about all the other ones?" Michael asked.

Sure enough, at least eleven other robots were prepped to do some damage.

Until a wave rushed in. There stood Chris. "Loving that right now. Really speeds up the reaction time."

The Anasala gang then appeared.

"Alright, that's the second month in a row you've pulled in the total distress call," Juniper groaned, "What's your damage?"

The gang handed out the glasses as fast as they could move.

"Oh, there's the damage."

"Well, move, people, move!" Amanda cried before starting to fling off the spells.

Everyone started fighting away.

Suddenly, three unoccupied robots grabbed Sarah, Ryan, and Kelly.

Kelly groaned, trying to get loose. "AUSTIN!"

"I'M COMING, KELLY!" Austin cried, rushing up a lamppost to get to the top of the robot…which quickly flung him into a building. "I might be a little while…" He then collapsed on a ledge.

Kelly was now kicking and flailing to get loose. Not going too well. Finally, she got her arms loose. She quickly hit the button on her COMM. "Aunt Nellie! Uncle Patrick! Aunt Rita! Where are you guys?!"

The three Coyotes then flew in.

"WE'RE RIGHT HERE!" Rita cried as she flew by. She finally got control enough to hover, keeping her brother and sister close, too. "OK, tell your dad: loving the rocket boots, but the control gloves are a little spotty." She then noticed the three Coyote kids were floating in midair. "Where's yours?"

"About that." Kelly tossed them the three remaining glasses.

Rita instantly noticed the giant fighter robots. "WHOA!" She nodded to her brother and sister and they immediately set to fighting them off. Rita took Sarah's by freezing the circuits until the robot collapsed and thus letting Sarah drop into her arms.

Patrick rushed over to Ryan, throwing the winds every which way at the robot as hard as he could until its head caved in and it dropped Ryan into his hold.

Nellie took the robot grasping Kelly. She threw a burst of dark energy into its main logic board, frying the whole thing and thus making it…collapse in the streets.

"Ow!" Kelly cried.

"SORRY!"

Everyone finally finished off the robots and collected in front of the tower.

"That's better," Wendy smirked.

"…there's still one more," Ace said.

There at the end of the street stood the biggest, baddest robot yet. The one the Toymaker was inside.

"It's impossible," Tech said as he examined his readings of it, "Someone will have to go in and shut it down manually."

Penelope scoffed. "Who'd be insane enough to do that?"

"I might be." There stood Zadavia, ready for the fight. "Give me five minutes." She rushed over to the robot and flew inside.

Toymaker was at the control panel she flew into. "Thank you for freeing me, Zadavia, but it's too late. Nothing can stop me, not even you or your little kids."

Zadavia took off the 3D glasses she'd snatched. "I did not manipulate the stream of the game so that Ryan would loose you simply for me to get revenge."

"You got your revenge before I even started my plot! You imprisoned me in cyberspace!"

"You were planning to manipulate the technological streams of the whole city! I had to do something! You doublecrossed your entire planet. Your mistake caused a backfire at the academy that resulted in Mallory Mastermind's accident sending signals to my brother. He sent the meteor that halfway-to-destroyed this world! A mistake such as that and the repercussions from it only push people further into the dark. And so this has proven. Just look at you now!"

"I've been nice! In the game, I gave that little Slayer her leg back, I was helping them the whole time—"

"You've been driven insane by your imprisonment, I understand. But that does not warrant all the damage you cause now. And does not make up for what horrors you did even before. Your little mishap cost hundreds of people their lives or, in the Loonatics' cases, the lives they were used to. It threw the planet and created horrible supervillains. It opened gateways to dimensions we should never hope to enter! Shall I continue?"

Toymaker just looked out the windows.

"Now…let me tell you all the good things that came of it."

Toymaker looked at her in shock.

"The Loonatics met and were friends…and became friends with me. They fell in love and had their children. They kept the planet safe and have been infinitely more happy now than they ever were with their lives before. That meteor changed everything for them and so many others…and so it has proven its benefits just as much as—if not more than—its downfalls. People have suffered, yes…but more good has come from that suffering than any of us can know. You've been living in fear of facing your past all these years but I did not cause your release to kill you or hurt you further or imprison you again, I let you out so that I can tell you—I believe on behalf of most of the people on the planet—that I…forgive you."

He continued to stare at her in shock even as he removed his hat. "I only ever dreamed of this moment…I never thought of this…why?"

"Actually, I believe the correct question would be if you forgive yourself…or rather if you're willing to make the apology in the first place. It's never too late to change, so take your time." She then realized the robot was crumbling. "…we have about ten seconds."

He looked at her and reached for a button. "…game over." He hit it.

And the robot collapsed.

The rest of the gang rushed from the line of fire and hid from the falling robot parts. Finally, it all stopped…and nothing else happened.

They exchanged looks of concern and worry…

…until a certain alien from the planet Freleng emerged from the rubble.

"Zadavia!" Lexi cried, rushing to her, the others following.

Toymaker then came out and shocked them all by taking Zadavia's side.

"Wait a minute…" Patrick looked around. "Who won?" Nellie then hit him.

"Allow me to coin a phrase?" Zadavia smirked, "It's not whether you win or lose…"

Toymaker smirked. "…it's how you play the game."

Nadine smirked. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Group hug. Game over.

**THE END…?**

YAY! I finished this fast, didn't I? This one was really easy compared to the last one. Well, thanks for reading, please review, I shall have the next story up really soon as well. See you then! Bye!


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